Many functions of modern devices in automotive, consumer and industrial applications, such as converting electrical energy and driving an electric motor or an electric machine, rely on semiconductor devices. For example, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs), Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) and diodes, to name a few, have been used for various applications including, but not limited to, switches in power supplies and power converters.
Occasionally, semiconductor devices are mainly based on a semiconductor material having a bandgap greater than the bandgap of silicon, such as silicon carbide or gallium nitride, to name a few. Such semiconductor devices are also referred to as “wide bandgap semiconductor devices”. The wide bandgap semiconductor material may exhibit electrical properties significantly different from corresponding electrical properties of, e.g., silicon, which may result in certain provisions regarding the design of a wide bandgap semiconductor device, such as the design of a trench including a gate electrode.